Heavenly Hairy Gooseberries

As I sit, I can smell wafts of the gooseberry flapjack I have just made floating across the kitchen.  It's divine.  Even the gas meter man commented when he came to read the meter a minute ago.  I couldn't give the poor chap a slice though as it was still roasting hot, and I have made it for the arrival of my dad who comes tomorrow for a couple of weeks to fit our new bathroom and do as many other DIY jobs as I can think of.  I have to make the most of the time he is in the UK to do all the things Mr B and I are completely inept at.  So my first small token of thanks is a gooseberry flapjack. 

I've never really cooked with gooseberries before, and I rarely spot them for sale.  I suppose this is because they have a short season, and they are a fruit you really need to cook to take the tartness away.  I saw a recipe in a Good Food magazine for a gooseberry streusel which really fired my enthusiasm, and I have tweaked (relatively heavily) the original recipe which makes the final thing more flapjacky and less crumble like.

Gooseberry and Pecan Flapjack

150g porridge oats

150g plain flour

100g pecans

250g butter

150g muscovado sugar

400g gooseberries

Prep. 15 mins  Cook. 50min - 1 hour

1) Line a swiss roll tin with baking parchment leaving a good height on the edges and pre-heat the oven to 170C

2) Put the pecans in a blender and whizz them until ground.

3) Rub together the oats, flour, pecans, sugar and butter.  You will end up with quite a sticky doughy mix.  Press two-thirds of the mixture into the bottom of the tin.  I found it was best to use my hands to do this.

4) If your gooseberries are particularly sharp, you may wish to dust them with sugar.  Cover the mixture in the tin with the gooseberries, ensuring they are evenly spread

5) Using the remaining dough cover the gooseberries.  I did this by breaking it into small chunks and dotting them all over.  Lightly press down everything in the tin.

6) Transfer to the oven and cook for 50 minutes to 1 hour until the top is brown.

7)  Remove from the oven and cool in the tin, then cut into slices as desired.

A Specially Requested Recipe for Danusia

Last night we had a barbeque.  We're still in boxes in the new house, but English summer is so fleeting that you have to make the most of every opportunity.  Fortunately, our friends were completely unfussed about the amount of boxes filling our house and garden, and they bought us a couple of fabulous housewarming presents!  

In the new garden, we have been lucky enough to inherit some raspberry canes which are currently fruiting.  I call them "our" homegrown raspberries, but in fact we are reaping the fruits (literally) of someone elses labour...  I couldn't possibly make a dessert for after the BBQ without including some of these fab little red beasties :-)

A clafoutis is a long standing fall back for me. I have been making them since forever (or so it seems).  They are super easy and require almost no effort.  What goes with raspberries? Well nectarines of course.  Or peaches.  You choose.  The almond batter in this recipe can be used with almost any fruit you like, just make sure the fruit is soft and ripe when you use it or it could turn out hard!

Nectarine and Raspberry Clafoutis (or Flognarde if you're a purist!)
4 Nectarines
A punnet of raspberries (sorry, can't give you the exact amount as I just stripped my canes!)
50g ground almonds
2 tbsp plain flour
2 eggs
2 yolks
300ml double cream

1) Pre-heat your oven to 180C
2) Slice your nectarines into wedges and place in the bottom of a 27cm or 11 inch pie dish.  My nectarines were a bit hard so I cooked them off with a knob of butter in a large frying pan until they were soft enough.
3) Put a good scattering of raspberries across the top of the nectarines
4) Whisk the remaining ingredients together until you have a thick, smooth(ish) batter and pour ove the top of the fruit.
5) Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and the batter has just set in the middle.  You can test this by touch, or by poking a sharp knife into the middle.

When it is pulled out of the oven it will be risen and look amazing, alas, it will collapse slightly by the time it is cool enough to eat. 

You can make the clafoutis in advance and just reheat it for serving.  And with a blob of ice cream or clotted cream, this makes a simple but divine dessert.